The Love Of A Shinobi
by AngelOfContemplation
Summary: Naruto, Itachi, and kids. Naruto is as shinobi as he can be in this one and is revealed as the son of the yondaime hokage, Namikaze Minato. Just read and enjoy this long oneshot i suck at summaries.


**A/N:** Okay, here's my latest trip down the rabbit hole into Naruto land. I honest to goodness had no clue who'd Naruto be paired with until the pairing happened. So yeah, enjoy my trip to where ever the Hades my plot bunnies and muses get this stuff from.

**Warnings:** Some cussin', Yaoi, strong and powerful and smart Naruto, some character bashing, but I don't think it's too bad. Oh and MPREG. Don't likie, then go whine to someone who cares to hear it cuz it's twelve minutes past three in the morning and I don't care.

**Disclaimers:** the only thing that belongs to me is what my plot bunnies forced outta me. I no own Naruto otherwise I'd have stopped babysitting a long time ago. Love ya peoples! Enjoy! ^_^

_**/story time! enjoy peoples! ^_^/**_

Kyuubi watched for seventeen years as her Naru-kit was seen as nothing more than an imbecilic parasite, a demon not fit to grace the dirt paths these disgusting mortals called streets. The kit she'd taken great pride in raising through his dreams every night since she'd accepted her fate of being caged inside of the boy child, was far from the teen his idiotic mask portrayed him as to the rest of the world. The young man even had his own jounin sensei fooled. It seemed that only a select few could see what was truly underneath Naruto's foolish mask. Beneath the foolish prank-loving and ramen adoring mask of Uzumaki Naruto, was the almost genius offspring of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage.

Where Uzumaki Naruto was brash, obnoxious, high-spirited, optimistic, and energetic; Namikaze Naruto was soft-spoken, intelligent, serious, yet still gregarious as was true to his people loving nature. The last Namikaze of Konoha was a genius in his seal mastery to the extent that Jiraiya, who knew the real Naruto, declared that he had no more to teach a kid who could now more than defeat him at his own mastery. Kyuubi's kit had, of course, graced Jiraiya with one of his mega-watt smiles because he'd understood it to be the older shinobi's way of telling the blonde that he was proud of him and his progress. The old pervert was proud to have been Naruto's sensei as he had been for the kit's father.

Both Sakura and Tsunade had been shocked the day Naruto had come back from a mission that had only taken him three days with the traitorous Uchiha Sasuke in tow. He'd glowered at Sakura and the villagers who' cheered for the return of their precious traitor, and sneered as he'd dropped the raven haired teen carelessly at his feet.

"I brought you your beloved little traitor back just this once. I dragged his worthless hide back home because of a promise I'd made in a foolish moment. Had it been anyone else who'd left this village the way he did, they'd have been taken out by the hunter-nins or labeled a criminal as he is. Orochimaru's cursed seal was sealed enough that Sasuke knew what he chose when he left to become that bastard's new body. Just know that if he wakes up from his forced nap and decides to go traitor on you all again, that I will not risk my life for a piece of trash who's so spoiled that he has no clue how lucky he is to have your favor instead of the ire I earned from you for saving your sorry asses from the monster that most of you are too afraid of to even utter her name."

His blue eyes had spit fire at the dirty looks some had been foolish enough to give him. "Some of us fight, and bleed, and sweat, and bust our asses to the death for your safety. That's the category I've always been in despite your hatred for me. You gave this disgrace of a shinobi nothing but your love and he betrayed all of us in return. Even my own team mate Sakura did not seem to care that her precious Sasuke-kun had almost been successful in killing me when she made me promise her that I'd bring Sasuke back. I don't know why you think we need him so badly when all I had to do was insult him and hit one little pressure point to knock him out to be able to toss him over my shoulder and transportation jutsu us to the gates of Konoha. Someday you'll all see just how pathetic he's made himself become. Until that day, enjoy your traitor. I have a mission report to fill out and file for Iruka-sensei before I can eat and get my well-deserved rest."

He'd walked away from everyone calmly then, and made his way to the missions room, writing neatly on a seemingly random piece of paper. Those who'd managed to be close enough to the blonde could see how neat and precise his handwriting was despite the fact that he was walking as he wrote. Kyuubi thought their surprise to be amusing when she thought of how easily the young chuunin wrote intricate seals in the midst of battle. Sasuke was, in fact, a victim of one such seal and would not awaken for around four more hours. Again, her kit was a secretly genius shinobi who brought nothing but honor to the Namikaze name. She knew, as mothers always seem to just know, that her kit was ready to reveal the truth of his paternity as he was in a place in his life where he could more than protect himself from the enemies he would have just for being Namikaze Minato's son. Kyuubi also knew, deep in her heart, that the day he revealed himself would be the day he would speak to the one who was meant to love him for the rest of his days. It would be then that she would finally merge with her kit and give him a gift greater than her powerful chakra; the ability to safely bear his own kits with the one he would come to love.

For now, Kyuubi sits back in her beautifully wooded world and keeps vigil over the boy child she'd come to love as dearly as the kits Orochimaru had so cruelly killed while she'd been away gathering their lunch.

_**Here comes... tah-dah!...the one, but not the only... page break! **_

Naruto was annoyed with himself and the mask he'd worn for more years than he'd care to count. He'd spoken to the council after he'd given Iruka his mission report, and had convinced them that it was time now for the truth to be revealed about who he really was. It was time for the people of Konoha to realize how much of a sacrifice Minato had actually made, and just how much Naruto had lost in becoming the one to contain the nine tailed fox. He'd found out about who his father had been at the tender age of three. He'd been in the Hokage's office, looking around, when he'd seen the picture of the blonde man with the big, cheerful smile that looked a lot like him.

He'd innocently pointed to the picture and asked Sarutobi if that man had been his daddy. He'd been overjoyed that that fun-looking, cheerful man had been confirmed as hid daddy. The child had been told that he must keep his daddy a secret until the day came that he could defeat a jounin sensei in a mock battle with no problems. When Naruto could protect himself from the enemies of the Namikaze, then he would be strong enough to openly carry the name. Naruto, being the intelligent little child he was, had smiled and nodded his assent to the Third Hokage. The old man had then told him about his mommy and daddy until the child knew them, and loved them for the people they'd been. He'd used a mixture of his brash and bold mother and his happy-go-lucky and determined father as his mask and kept the Naruto that was so very much like the man who'd been so beloved by his village, that they would've instantly recognized his lineage had he not hidden away his true face.

Kakashi was the only one who knew who his father was from simply training him for so many years. The man wasn't a genius to be underestimated. He'd had it figured out from how very much Naruto had reminded him of his old sensei in his more serious moments. Jiraiya had always known who the brat in the orange jumpsuit was. He'd decided to train the kid so that he could teach him at least a part of what Minato would've taught him had he had the chance to raise his son. Iruka, who'd been like a father and big brother to Naruto, had taught the boy almost everything that Jiraiya couldn't find the words to teach Minato's brat. Kakashi had been the one to understand without asking what Jiraiya had questioned Naruto about around a campfire one night.

"Hey kid, why do you always wear such a bright shade of orange?"

Naruto had simply gazed up at the man with wise eyes. "If I can hide in such a loud color, then I will be completely undetectable no matter what I wear. It's why I pulled so many pranks when I was an academy student, so I could train myself in cloaking techniques."

The old man had, in the end, understood Naruto's logic, and why he'd been forced to use such a method to learn something no one would want to teach the Kyuubi carrier. Iruka was the one to see the lasting impact Naruto had on the children who looked up to him as an older brother. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon were three of his most proficient students in hiding, escaping, and transforming. The chuunin knew that, given a chance to have his own genin, Naruto would make a wonderful sensei. He'd taken three bratty kids and given them his time and patience and changed their chances of being dead-lasts in the academy, to having a fighting chance of graduating top of their class. He'd been a busy genin when he'd first given up his free time to teaching the Konohamaru gang things they'd need to know in the future. Naruto had done his best to prepare the trio for the academy, and he'd managed it wonderfully.

Naruto knew that the time to let the village know his lineage would be after he'd taken the jounin exams that Jiraiya had advised him to take. Now, on his way home with a bag of groceries resting in his arm, the blonde chuunin grins at the excited yells of 'BOSS!' and turns around to flash one of his mega-watt smiles at the Konohamaru gang. His voice holds a cheerfulness that is sincere when seeing these kids. "Hey guys! How have you been? I bought groceries!"

The trio took this as the invitation he'd meant it to be and ran up to the teen happily. They chatted cheerfully as they followed their chuunin 'boss' home for some free food. When it was Naruto-nii, or Iruka-sensei cooking, these three rugrats knew better than to miss out on such a finely cooked meal. Inside of Naruto's small, but tidy, apartment, the kids sit at the kitchen table as Naruto cooks and chatter. Konohamaru is the first to start a conversation with Naruto. "Man Boss, I wish you were a jounin so you could be our sensei instead of the closet pervert."

Naruto chuckles. "Is Ebisu really as bad as I always thought he was with his perverseness?"

Moegi nods slowly. "Hai Naru-nii. We always get away from him when Konohamaru does the sexy no jutsu because he always gets a nose bleed and passes out. It ever works on Iruka sensei though."

Naruto laughs and shakes his head a little. "Moegi, I'm not surprised that little trick doesn't work on Iruka sensei anymore. I used to pull that one on him all the time. Harem no jutsu doesn't work on him either, so he must not be into women or something."

Udon pushes his glasses back up onto his nose and sniff a bit. "We think he's got a crush on your Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto snorts softly, amused. "He's had a crush on Kakashi-sensei for years now. He was bi though. I guess he's just Kakashi sexual now or something. You'd think they'd have gotten together by now, but no. Anyway, I see you guys passed the genin exams. They were a breeze right?"

Konohamaru nods happily, grinning broadly. "Hai! We passed no problem! I still wish you were a jounin when we graduated, but I guess we weren't meant to be your first students were we?"

Naruto, only a little surprised by the wisdom of the question, turns his head and looks calmly at the three little scamps who'd weaseled their way into his heart. "To tell you the truth guys, you were my first students. My very first little team of brats that I taught and kept occupied with little missions around the village. Any time you guys need to be taught something that you think Ebisu isn't going to teach you any time soon, you come to me and I will still teach you things." He grins, "It's what big brothers are for ne?"

He isn't shocked when he finds himself dog piled by the kids. He simply wrap his arms around the rag tag little group and hugs them. They were the siblings he'd never had, so the moment was just as emotional for them as it was for him. It was, after all, for the future of Konoha that he would be revealing himself, and these kids were a very important part of that future. They were a part of Konoha's future that he would protect to his dying breath, just as his father had done. He'd died thinking his son would be the hero of Konoha, and Naruto wasn't going to let him down.

The kids, having contacted their parents to keep them from worrying, had spent the night with their beloved Naru-nii. He'd made them a delicious breakfast before fondly sending them on their way to their training field for a day with Ebisu as Naruto readied himself for his jounin trials. According to Tsunade, if he did well enough, he could even be given ANBU status and pulled right in from one trial to the next. He could possibly join the ranks of men like Kakashi as Elite Jounin. It was his mission to rise in the ranks until he reached what was still his ultimate goal as a ninja, becoming Hokage. If he could manage to prove himself s a strong, powerful, and loyal Konoha shinobi before granny Tsunade kicked the bucket, he'd have a good chance at being chosen for Rokudaime. She was the only one who'd hand the hat to him because she knew who he was on the inside and loved him for it and the mask he chose to wear.

Dressed in the standard issue shinobi uniform, done in classic Naruto style with his black pants and a semi-tight pumpkin orange netted shirt over a tight fitting black tank top, covered by his chuunin vest, Naruto calmly leaves his apartment. He heads to the self same forest he'd trekked through as a genin, mentally preparing himself and listing the weapons he'd hidden on him that only added to his supply in the black weapons pouches strapped around his waist and on his right thigh. His golden hair, still as wild as ever, was only slightly tamed by the longer length. It made him look like a whiskered version of his father, only more beautiful in a way that he figured was his mother coming out in him. He lets out a soft sigh and ruffles his hair before leaping onto the nearest rooftop and speeding off to the forest. It wouldn't be a good idea for him to run into anyone wanting to idly chat with him. They'd make him late and he was a well scheduled creature by choice, never late unless circumstances stopped him from being on time.

He'd finally understood that Kakashi's tardiness was purposeful. It was a training exercise in patience and staying alert, aware of your surroundings. It had paid off from the first for Naruto because he'd always been the first one to sense the jounin's chakra. The man had finally figured it out the day that Naruto had forgotten for a moment to be the dobe and had stared directly into Kakashi's eye before the others had even glanced around or thought to notice that they were being watched. Kakashi's gift to Naruto that day had been private training with his sensei while Sakura and Sasuke had to do a long list of D-rank missions around the village. The two shinobi had come to an agreement then that Naruto would be without his mask so long as Kakashi lowered his while they trained privately. Naruto was the first and only one of his team to see his sensei's handsome face, and he kept it a secret to this very day. A shinobi did not tell a team member's secrets, after all.

_**/And yep, another page break while I do my best to try and figure out who to pair Naruto with.../**_

Naruto blessed Kakashi in his mind and sent up a prayer of thanks for his and Kurenai's in depth training pertaining to his weaknesses in genjutsu. He'd never be a master of the art, but he was grounded enough in it to sense and dispel it. He did so easily now and was able to then pinpoint the exact location of the 'enemy' shinobi who was trying to kidnap his 'client' along with the 'enemy's' accomplices. Although it sucked to have the Uchiha pretending to be his snobby client, Naruto could relax and enjoy the coming battle with the more than talented elite jounin surrounding them. Glancing at the bored looking Sasuke, Naruto swiftly makes the seals for the shadow clone jutsu with one hand while shifting into a defensive stance with a senbon needle in the other. Fifteen clones pop silently into existence, five facing Sasuke as they surround him, and ten with their backs to those five, protecting both Sasuke and their fellow clones.

It was an effective way to protect the person you were leading safely home, in his experience on the road with Jiraiya, who'd allowed him to take on missions for the countries Konoha was allied with as a gesture of good will and peace. Half of the money earned on each mission was given to the Kage of each village he'd received the missions from. It was also the reason Jiraiya had wanted Naruto to go through his trials as a majority of the missions he'd been given were for jounin rank or higher. Being the 'kind' sensei he was, the toad sage had allowed his student to strike out on his own for the missions he'd accepted. The old man had taken it as a good testament to the kid's skill level that he'd come back with a few healing scratches or bruises at most, and a pile of cash for services rendered to be halved with the Kage. It was only by Jiraiya's recommendations that this trial be a mixture of both jounin and ANBU. Naruto had been surprised at the look of complete and total shock on Tsunade's face when she'd read over his mission list. She'd then hugged him tightly to her and sniffled while mumbling some strange gibberish about Jiraiya being an evil ass careless fool of a perverted sensei. The old man had just smirked and shrugged. It was Naruto's signal to hug her back and murmur comforting things to the woman.

Dodging a well-placed kick, Naruto slaps a seal paper in the unsuspecting Anko's cheek, catches her as she falls, dead asleep, and gently lays her on the ground nearby. Moving like the yellow flash that had been Minato, Naruto appears silently behind Asuma and taps a pulse point that makes the man slump forward against the tree he was hiding in. Smirking to himself, he ties the man up with chakra suppressing rope before flitting off and just barely missing Kakashi's attack on his way back to Sasuke. The amused teen battles with his sensei for the fun of it, just to show his skill in fighting. Senbon needles flying with chilling accuracy keep the last three of the team trying to highjack his client away from the raven-haired Uchiha. In the end, the 'enemy' was peacefully 'taken out' and his client was returned safely to his not so humble abode.

From there, Naruto was sent another 'mission' by way of hawk. It was an infiltration and assassination mission, one that had him smirking darkly even as he tied his hitei ate to his bicep and slipped on the fox mask that had come with the missive. It was easy enough to make it into the 'hideout'. The trouble was determining which way to go and how to deal with the shinobi on the way before they were able to raise the alarm. By the time he'd 'taken out' the target and returned to where the judging panel was, both missions had only taken him a few hours to complete. Tsunade, gazing at him critically, smiles.

"Well done brat. We all agree that the mask, as well as the position that goes with it, suits you as your missions list, and Jiraiya suggested they would. Welcome back home Kitsune, Elite Jounin of Konoha. Now go wake up Anko. Kakashi doesn't recognize the seal you placed on her."

Naruto laughs happily. "It's the same seal I placed on Sasuke before I brought him home. It lasts for two to fifteen hours depending on the time limit I place on the seal. She should be waking up on her own in about twenty minutes, but I will go speed the process up."

Tying his mask to his weapons pouch at his waist, Naruto runs, and meets up with a lazy-eyed Kakashi. Grinning sheepishly at the man, he kneels beside Anko and swiftly makes the seals necessary for removing the seal he'd placed on the sleeping Anko. "Sorry about the seal Kakashi-sensei, it's one of my own creations. I'll teach you a few of the more useful ones if you like."

Kakashi nods curtly as the woman next to the men groans softly. As Naruto hands her a small white pill, Kakashi speaks. "What kind of missions did Jiraiya allow you to take Naruto?"

Naruto blinks, then looks at Kakashi. "Any and all missions I thought I could handle at the time. It depended on the day and my mood really. I even subbed at an academy during weapons introduction day once or twice. I took missions of almost all ranks and completed them before we moved on to the next village. I was basically a freelance shinobi for the countries and villages allied with Konoha, so anything they needed done, I did to a certain extent. The old man allowed me to do what I wished in those situations as a training tool. I wasn't just preparing to become a better and stronger shinobi for higher ranked missions on a training field; I was learning by experience and seeing first hand what it is I needed to do. I've always learned by doing and figuring things out by the way I did those things better than being shown once and having someone say, "do it." You give me an instructional book or scroll on it, and I have it mastered in a few hours. It's how I've always learned things, so Jiraiya just gave me the freedom to learn it the best way I could."

The silver-haired jounin shakes his head and snorts in amusement. "You've always been the most surprising student I've had the oddball pleasure to train with. I have faith that you will reach your ultimate goal and finish the works Minato-sensei began but never had the chance to finish. You are your father's son, yet apart from his shadow. It took me a long time to see it, to realize the signs for what they were. Sasuke going rogue is my failure as his sensei for not helping him get past his hatred for Itachi, or the need to get his revenge. You were my success. You took the things I taught you and made those things your own. You were the only one of your team who enjoyed every moment of being privately trained. It's why I rewarded you so often with private training, because I noticed that you thrived on receiving time and attention and care from the one teaching you."

Reaching out, Kakashi ruffles Naruto's golden hair fondly and grins. "You, I'm proud of. Sasuke, I'm ashamed of and disappointed in. Sakura... I'm worried for. I never tell you to make us proud because you've already made all those important to you proud to know you. I feel I have to watch Sakura still."

Naruto snickers. "Because she's a bi-polar banshee from hell? Or is it because she always did things only to make Sasuke notice her until she figured out that even I pulled my own weight when I was supposedly the weakest link?"

Kakashi tilts his head thoughtfully. "because she never felt that she had to prove her strength to herself. It's dangerous to use others as your measuring stick when it comes to training yourself because everybody is different. We learn differently and advance at different paces and both she and Sasuke used your progress to determine whether or not their own was up to snuff, so your mask helped more than you know in keeping them from becoming unstable in a way. As long as it seemed that you were still the goofball ninja who still had a long way to go, they had a chance to catch up with you."

Anko, awake and feeling better thanks to the pill Naruto had given her, pipes up in an oddly calm tone. "Envy and ambition are deadly companions to entertain at the same time. That's what your team had kid, envy and ambition, and it broke up what could have been one of the most powerful teams in Konoha out of the rookie nine. Learn from it and move on as best you can. By the way, welcome to the ranks, junior, I'm glad you made it. Staying a chuunin would have been a disrespectful waste of your talents."

Naruto grins. "and you'd have done more than just cut my cheek."

Anko smirks, "Damn straight. By the way kid, you're a jounin just in time for the next bunch of brats to graduate from the academy."

The blonde's groan of dismay and stricken look makes the jounin around him laugh. All in all, it had been an oddly fun morning. New ranks, old friends seeing him as an almost equal, and a good laugh was more than enough to make Naruto smile.

_**/Brody: "Ouch! Why do you have to hit so hard!" Caleb: *smirks* "So I can knock all the stupid out of you before it becomes contagious."/**_

Sasuke was confused. Where had the dobe he'd always known Naruto to be gone? The dobe who couldn't do nearly half of the things the ninja who'd protected him as his 'client' had done did seem to exist. Was it Naruto's true strength the blonde was showing now? Had he held back all these years? Sasuke could distantly remember coming across Naruto and Kakashi on a day when he and Sakura had both been late just because they knew their sensei was always late, and seeing them train. Kakashi had been the patient sensei, explaining new taijutsu moves to an avidly listening Naruto. The little blonde had then practiced the new moves tirelessly for hours until Sakura showed up and she and Sasuke walked onto the training field together. Naruto had even practiced the moves he'd been taught during their D-rank missions throughout the day. Maybe all of his hard work had been what made the dobe so competent and strong. He'd reminded Sasuke of Kakashi-sensei today with his sheer presence and quiet confidence that lead a person to believe that you were safe with this shinobi watching over you.

Sasuke had felt a twinge of sympathy for Anko when he'd recognized the sleeping seal Naruto placed on the crazy kunoichi. He remembered the migraine he'd had when he woke up. He also remembered the flash of annoyance when he'd found out from Anko herself that Naruto had given her a little white pill that had dispelled any side-effects of the seal. He'd had to suffer through a full day of nothing but pounding pain in his skull because Sakura wasn't good enough yet in healing techniques to pinpoint the source of the problem and Tsunade had been unwilling to piss her favorite brat off in order to ease a traitor's pain. Sasuke could understand the woman's ire towards him because he was, in fact, a traitor. He'd betrayed his village, his sensei, and his team and had turned his back on them all the day he'd left to gain more power through Orochimaru. Seeing Naruto take trials that he breezed through because of his hard work made Sasuke dislike himself.

Where Sasuke had chosen to rely on someone else's power to increase his own, Naruto had busted his ass all of his life and had become the kind of shinobi Sasuke had once wanted to be. He knew, deep down, that he and Naruto could have shared their training and grown together as they did with the tree walking exercise on their first actual mission. But he'd thrown all of that away when he'd gone rogue. He'd put himself in a position where he had cause to fear sleeping because he could remember the snake's skin on his when the sannin had taken Sasuke's virginity as his own. He'd slept in Orochimaru's arms every night, warming the man's bed in exchange for the power to kill his last remaining family member. Those nights were nightmares that haunted him now, and he could find no one to lean on who would help him through this all because he'd betrayed his best friend and had almost killed him. He'd thrown his own life down the drain. Maybe if he worked hard enough, he could earn Naruto's forgiveness.

Sakura watched the emotions play out in Sasuke's eyes after they'd walked by Anko, Kakashi, and Naruto on the way to the Uchiha district. She'd been assigned to be his care taker until Tsunade felt he could be trusted, or until Naruto agreed to be the one who stood by Sasuke. Watching the youngest Uchiha now, she couldn't help but see the yearning in his eyes whenever he looked at Naruto. It was a light she'd seen many times in Sasuke's eyes when he looked at the blonde ball of sunshine. Sakura didn't think that Sasuke knew what love was if he hadn't acted upon what was clearly in his dark eyes for Naruto. Naruto himself had acted on his love for Sasuke multiple times in the past. He'd almost killed Haku for what had seemed to be Sasuke's death in the land of waves. He'd gone into battle with Orochimaru in the forest of death to save Sasuke from the man, and he'd almost given his life in the attempt to keep Sasuke in the village with them. Knowing Naruto as she did, Sakura knew that if the blonde called Sasuke Sasu-teme, then he'd have forgiven the other man.

"Just wait for him Sasuke-kun. You will be Naruto's Sasu-teme again someday. If you don't invite me to the wedding I'll kick your ass."

Sasuke gapes just a little before catching himself and schooling his features into his expressionless mask. "What the hell are you talking about Sakura? I just want my best friend back, that's all."

Sakura shots him an unimpressed look. "Right. It's almost pathetic that you knew love in your life and you still don't know what it is when it hits you on your thick skull. Naruto has loved you for as long as you've loved him and he's the only one who acted on it more than once."

"Prove it."

"You look at him the same way Lee looks at me. That longing and love that finally had me accepting a relationship with my self proclaimed warrior of love. You saved him from falling down that waterfall when we were cleaning up the river, and you refused the hanky I gave you in the academy to help wash off Naruto germs from that accidental kiss you two shared. You also want to prove to him that you'll be a strong mate because you know of the fox inside of him who would accept no less. The last nail in the coffin for you is the fact that you left him alive the day you stuck your hand through his chest in the valley of the end. You knew that he wouldn't die because you felt Kakashi-sensei coming. Sensei is the reason you left Naruto there in favor of leaving the village. I doubt you could have really killed Naruto that day."

Sasuke, remembering the feeling of his hand in Naruto's chest, shudders. "Why would he even look at me in the same way he once did with the memory of my hand going through his chest still there? I hate the fact that I can still feel it Sakura. How could he not hate me for it? Everything he said when he drug me back here was the truth, but for one thing. I won't leave again without permission from the Hokage because I have something to prove to him now. But, as far as I know, he hasn't shown any love at all for me."

Sakura puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He cared enough to always challenge you to be better than you thought you could be. He loved you enough for the Kyuubi to lend him her chakra when he thought you'd been killed by Haku. There was grief and vengeful anger in that chakra that you didn't feel because you were out cold. He didn't even try to escape the hospital when he was healing from the wound in his chest that you inflicted on him. He'd be lounged in his bed, staring out the window with a look in his eyes that could break your heart. I made him promise me to bring you back for him, not for me, because I saw something inside of him die without you here. He was the only one who never gave up on bringing you back to us Sasuke-kun. Even I told him he should just give up for his own safety, but he refused. So yes, he's angry with you right now, but it won't last for long. Just be patient."

Sasuke gazes at Sakura thoughtfully. "I suppose I will do just that, but I doubt he'd want to be seen with a traitor like me, not when he deserves so much better."

The two continue walking silently now, but don't notice the three jounin who'd been following them. They'd heard everything and now two of them were looking at their youngest member as he watched the two leave with a deep, aching sadness in his expressive blue eyes. The tallest of the three touches the youngest's shoulder and they head off to organize the village meeting their Hokage had requested they organize to tell the people who Naruto truly was.

_**/...A sad wind blows leaves to the ground, as autumn once again comes to town; My love for you is as steady as the seasons, for living now you're my many reasons.../**_

The people of Konoha, ranging from the youngest to oldest, and the shinobi to the civilian, were gathered around Hokage tower. Tsunade stood on the lowest balcony flanked by Kakashi and Jiraiya. With a raised hand, the crowd is silenced, and her voice is clearly heard. "There has been a secret that we have kept heavily guarded from everyone. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, left behind a son when he gave his life for this village. I will allow Jiraiya, who has been one of the main secret keepers, speak."

The thunderstruck crowd whispers among themselves until Jiraiya begins to speak. "Minato believed in the forgiving hearts of the people in the village he gave his all for. He believed that his son would be well taken care of while he made the sacrifice he made. As he made this great sacrifice of himself an his future happiness with his newborn son, the same son his wife died giving birth to was forced to make sacrifices of his own before he knew what that word meant. This child, beloved by his parents, was meant to be seen as the savior of our village that he really was. Not as the monster kept at bay by nothing more than a seal and his pure heart and good will."

At the louder gasp from the crowd, Jiraiya smirks. "Minato's son has done his father's memory proud. He's become a strong enough shinobi now that he can finally take upon his shoulders the weight of the Namikaze name, and the threat of the enemies that comes along with it that his mother's name protected him from before."

Tsunade takes over, grinning almost viciously at the crowd. "We reintroduce to the people of Konoha, the son of Namikaze Minato, Namikaze Naruto!"

As Naruto emerges from the doorway behind the three, he is embraced fondly by Tsunade, has his hair ruffled by Jiraiya, and is pulled into a hug of brotherly affection by Kakashi. Once he's standing on his own before the crowd, his jounin uniform is seen beneath Minato's white, flame edged, Hokage trench. For the first time, the people who'd known Minato could see the uncanny resemblance between the Yondaime and the child they'd labeled as a monster for simply being the vessel of the Kyuubi. The shinobi who'd come to respect Naruto cheer for him, as do some of the villagers who'd been kind to what they'd seen as a poor little orphan who'd needed a bit of kindness over the years. Naruto graces them with one of his bright, beautiful, cheerful smiles. With a held up hand, the cheering stops.

"I can't blame any of you for hating the fox for taking those you loved away from you. What I can blame you for is for treating a child the way you would a monster. The fox may have killed and destroyed, but I was naught but an innocent child given the responsibility of holding the fox's power in check so that she could not be free to ravage our village, or any other village, ever again. But, being my father's son, I still love Konoha, and the people who live here, and I only wish for the peace and happiness of our village. I am strong because of those who helped me, who loved me when no one else would. I am a loyal friend because of those friends I've made by not letting those who shunned me get me down. I might not like the way I was treated by some of you, but that will not make me turn my back on those of you who were not a part of the things that went on. I love you idjits too much to do anything more than thank heaven that you helped make me determined to become the strongest shinobi Konoha's ever had."

He grins and chuckles softly at the hoots and laughing cheers coming from his friends. "As this is a secret sharing day, I will tell you all one more thing. Uchiha Itachi has returned from the mission that my father gave him before his death. His mission has been successful, and Akatsuki has been dismantled. The regretful loss of the Uchiha clan is a direct result of their plans to become the super power that ruled Konoha. Itachi was forced to kill all who were involved in those traitorous plans, and he saved my life in the process. The only one he left alive that terrible day, was the one person he trusted enough to know that they had nothing to do with the plans to take over Konoha and to kill Namikaze Minato's brat. According to my father's instructions and Tsunade's approval of said instructions, Itachi is to be reinstated as a Konoha shinobi and taken out of the bingo book. There will be, as there is for Sasuke, a probational period to prove to us the strength of loyalty Itachi has for Konoha. So behave yourselves, and have a good day."

Naruto turns and catches a kunai headed at his back between two fingers. Raising a brow, he calculates the trajectory and swiftly throws it back, hitting one of the Hyuuga Clan in the leg deeply. Sapphire eyes narrow at the now injured man dangerously. "If I felt like it, I could have them bring you in on attempted murder charges. For now, I give you this warning once, and you'd best heed it. Try that again and you won't see the light of day ever again. Be grateful that I hit you in the leg rather than the chest area you launched that kunai from."

The crowd gapes openly at the display and watches Naruto walk inside the tower, his father's cloak billowing impressively behind him. Kakashi, openly amused, follows Naruto with an equally amused Jiraiya and Tsunade behind them. Sakura stands in the midst of the crowd, gaping openly. Sasuke smiles, a small little amused grin, and chuckles. Looking at him oddly, Sakura can't stop the question she asks him. "What's so funny Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke smirks. "The dobe is a genius Sakura. He waited until he knew he'd no longer be able to keep it a secret. He looks so much like the fourth Hokage that we would've noticed sooner or later. Now he's more than able to protect himself a bring only honor to the Namikaze name as the Yondaime did before him. I think that, after everything he's sacrificed and done for all of us, after he's saved so many of us from ourselves, that he deserves to be recognized for the shinobi we never knew existed behind that foxy mask of his. I think I finally understand now... and as I do, I can honestly say that I will not pursue any type of relationship with him that's more than friendship. If it is, in the end, an Uchiha he's destined to be with then it should be Itachi. He only betrayed Konoha because it was part of his mission to do so. I missed my chance with him, and I know that Itachi won't be as stupidly foolish as I was."

With wide eyes, Sakura watches Sasuke turn and walk away. Shaking herself out of her shock, she rushes to catch up with him. Men were weird. Naruto loved Sasuke still, didn't he? Why would he pass up Sasuke for Itachi? Surely Sasuke was seeing things the wrong way... wasn't he?

_**/I am the mess you chose, the closet you cannot close; the devil in you I suppose, because the wounds never heal... -StainD; Everything changes-/**_

Naruto, his new house keys in hand, silently opens the door to the small manor house that Minato had left behind for him. Walking inside, and ignoring the fact that Itachi had followed him in for the moment, Naruto takes in the sights and scents of the home. Sapphire eyes note the multiple layers of the seals concealed as decorative touches in the foyer, then the main family room. His voice is strong, but soft. "There's no dust, no age, no stale air because of the seals dad put in place. This is the house, as it was, the day mom went into labor, and I lost my family while gaining a fox. Mom's here, her scent... I remember it from the brief moments she'd been strong enough to hold me. Flowers... gardenias... that's her. Dad's here too, in his seals, the warmth of the décor, the scrolls and paperwork and books, and journals... in his scent. It's one that I remember too. A little musky, but earthy... leaves, grass, the smell you'd catch after the rain. And I'd feel safe in betting that I could find the room that was to be my nursery. I think I have to... I need that."

Itachi, having closed the front door behind them a long time ago, stares at the blonde before him and understands his need as though it were his own. It was something that was not so strange for him to feel when around Naruto. He'd fallen in love with the blonde after they'd met while Naruto was on one of his missions for another village. They'd both been alone and had begun to talk. Itachi had taken one look into those expressive and warm blue eyes and had told Naruto everything involving his mission and how the massacre had once haunted him enough that he actually looked forward to the day when Sasuke would take his revenge for the death of their clan at Itachi's blood-stained hands. Naruto had, in turn, told Itachi about himself and all of the secrets he'd kept for so long, including the love that he had once had for Sasuke that had shriveled up and died the day he'd had the chidori stuck through his chest. He'd had hope for a relationship with Sasuke before that terrible day, but that had faded quickly and had left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Having heard about Sasuke and Sakura's talk about Sasuke's love for Naruto, Itachi knew that the little blonde was hurt by the thought that Sakura could claim to be one of his best friends, and yet thought that Naruto was suicidal enough to go back to courting Sasuke. Being friends with the raven-haired traitor was going to be hard enough, but anything more than that would be nearly impossible. Itachi was not as stupid as his little brother had been. He'd been there, in the tower with Naruto, holding him while he waited to be introduced as his father's son. He'd held him and shared his strength because he'd known that Naruto needed it, that silent 'I'm here for you to lean on' that Itachi had been more than willing to give to him. It surprised him that Naruto had chosen to be the one who watched over Itachi and had offered Itachi a room in his inherited home. And now, Naruto needed to see his nursery. Itachi would follow him and remain close by so he'd be there when the blonde needed a shoulder to be pitiful on.

"Lead the way Naruto, and I will follow."

Looking at the Uchiha, Naruto smiles, "You'll have to explain to me later how you always seem to know what I need without me having to say a word. Come on Itachi, I think it may be upstairs."

The two companionably walk up the one flight of stairs in the house and sort look inside each door, coming across a library type study, an art studio, a weapons room, two guest bedrooms, a bathroom, and what was obviously the master bedroom. Across from the master bedroom was a door painted a cheerful orange. Taking a breath, Naruto closes his hand over the door handle, turns the knob, and opens the door. His eyes fill with tears upon seeing the soft sea green walls, and sea foam white carpet, cradle, changing table, rocking chair, and chest of drawers. There were baby animals playfully prancing around the room on the walls and on the bedclothes adorning the mattress of the cradle. Protection seals were almost hidden and showed Naruto just how much his daddy had already loved him to have put such protections in the nursery before he'd even been born. The shelves were full of children's books and a few stuffed animals used as bookends. There was an orange toy box overfilled with toys and random baby things like a baby bath, a baby swing, and a bouncy seat. From the looks of it, his parents had been well-stocked and well-prepared for the child they were to have.

Taking the plush monkey from the pillow of the cradle, Naruto hugs it to his chest and murmurs to himself, to Itachi. "Kyuubi will merge with me soon, her abilities will be mine... I will keep this room as it is so that the children I will be able to bear can enjoy this as I wasn't able to. This house deserves life, love, happiness, and the chance to recover from the tragic fate that made it impossible for this room to be enjoyed by the child it was meant for, and by the parents who loved that child enough to create this. No, this village has no clue how much was sacrificed to protect them from the mourning and vengeful mother I've caged all of my life."

Itachi raises a brow. "Why would you be able to bear children Naruto?"

Naruto blinks and looks at him. Grinning sheepishly, he explains himself. "Kyuubi says that it will be a gift she gives me, I will still be male in all the ways that count, but I will have the same reproductive organs on the inside that women have... only without the whole bleeding thing. I think that's what makes it a real gift in the end, not having to go through that female stuff until I'm knocked up. She claims I'd be like the males who evolved in a way that made it not matter what sex your mate was, the species would continue to survive."

Itachi nods curtly and stares at Naruto for a moment before speaking his mind, figuring that he really had nothing to lose. "You are one of a kind Naruto, and I love that about you. I love you as you are Naruto, and if you don't mind being chained to an Uchiha for a lifetime, then I would love to be able to call you mine."

Naruto's eyes sparkle. "Were it Sasuke asking the same thing I'd be tossin' the teme out the window. As long as that Uchiha I'll be chained to doesn't mind becoming a Namikaze and letting his brother rebuild the Uchiha clan by his lonesome, and happens to go by the name Itachi; Then I suppose I wouldn't mind being chained to the Uchiha I've fallen in love with. I'd be a fool to let you slip through my fingers Itachi."

Itachi grins. It's a small grin, but it's there. "I think that the Namikaze clan need to be rebuilt just as the Uchiha clan does. I would not mind leaving behind a name synonymous with being a traitor to this village. Before we start talking china patterns and who's taking up the role of the bride, we'll be boyfriends first ne?"

Naruto laughs joyfully. "Agreed, 'Tachi."

The scarecrow clinging to the side of the house just outside the nursery window is the only witness to the kiss shared between the two men. Grinning beneath his mask, the scarecrow Kakashi leaves to find his dolphin-chan. Iruka would want to know about the man dating his little brother after all, and Kakashi was addicted to his lover's presence.

_**/Time skip; five years down the dusty ole dirt road.../**_

The walls of the Namikaze home were filled with laughter and childish giggles and the sound of running feet. A tall blonde man growls playfully between chuckles as he chases a petite little girl with naturally tanned skin, long black hair, and bright sapphire eyes. She was dressed in an adorable pink sundress with a floral pattern. In her little hands was the Hokage hat needed by the man behind her, who was dressed in full Kage attire but for the hat. His voice as he chases the child, obviously letting her win for the moment just for the fun of it, is filled with laughter. "Hey! Get back here Akemi! I need that!"

Akemi giggles and lets herself be caught. Her beautiful little angel face is lit up with happiness as she puts the hat on her mommy's head once he's settled her on his hip. "Dere goes mommy!"

Naruto kisses his baby girl on her little cheek and smiles warmly at her. "Thank you very much baby girl. You be very good for daddy today and help him with Daichi like the wonderful big sister you are. I'm going to meet with the other Kages and make sure that I personally see to it that they are settled into their hotel rooms and comfy before I return home for the day. The written part of the chuunin exams will be held tomorrow afternoon. So we'll all be busy tomorrow. If I get home early enough, we'll go get that ice cream you and Dai-chan wanted so badly yesterday." his expression turns serious, his tone stern in the way only a mother's can be without her having to raise her voice. "But you will have to be extra good for your daddy. If he tells me you were bad, no ice cream. If he tells me you were good, then you get the sweet stuff as a reward okay?"

Akemi nods 'seriously' and grins brightly at him. "Okies Mommy, 'Kemi will be good!"

Amused, Naruto chuckles softly and grins at her. "We'll see munchkin, we'll see. And don't think you can hide one little temper tantrum from me girly cuz your daddy tells me everything."

Akemi pouts adorably and cuddles against Naruto's chest. "But what if Daddy no makes my samich rights?"

The grin widens, and Naruto's amusement grows. "Then you tell him that mommy says to remember to cut off the crust for Kemi-chan. He just might be willing to cut those icky crusts off your bread for you if you be nice and ask him to do it for you instead of pitching a fit and refusing to eat."

Akemi tilts her head thoughtfully and sighs softly. "Okies mommy, Kemi-chan can dos thats."

Naruto laughs softly and kisses her little cheek. "Good, now go play. I still have a few things left to gather up before I leave."

Putting her on her feet gently, Naruto lightly taps her little behind and watches with love in his eyes as the little girl runs to the playroom they'd turned the downstairs study into the day he'd found out about his first bun in the oven and had told his then boyfriend. It was only one day later that Itachi had proposed, and they'd found themselves planning a wedding and getting married within two months. Luckily, the baby bump had decided to stay a very small mound where Naruto's rock hard abs had once been. Until Naruto's fourth month of pregnancy. There'd been immeasurable joy when Akemi had been born. She'd been a year old when Tsunade decided to hand her hat to Naruto and make him the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure, and two when Daichi was born. His and Itachi's little angels were four and two and growing like weeds.

Tsunade was all too happy to be their grandmother as Jiraiya was happier than Naruto had thought the old man would be to be a grandfather to his rather adorable spawn. Stuffing the things he knew he'd need in a shoulder bag, Naruto double checks everything, even himself, before heading to the playroom. Pausing in the doorway, he watches as Daichi crawls all over his daddy, 'helping' his big sister defeat the 'monster.' Said monster was growling and rawring and 'attacking' very ticklish places on the rug rats he rolled around in the floor with. Daichi was almost the exact opposite of his sister with his pale skin, golden blonde hair that tended to stick out wildly, and dark brown eyes that seemed to be black. Naruto can't help the grin at the bright orange shirt and earth brown pants his son had put on backwards.

Loving how their squeals of laughter fill the room and filter through the house, he remembers wishing for this very thing to heal the silence the house had been subjected to for almost sixteen years. Everything most important to him, his world, his life, lived here. His world revolved around his husband and their children and then the village and its needs. There was peace, for the time being, between Konohagakure and those allied with the village. Their enemies may have been planning something, but no one had dared attack since Orochimaru had been obliterated by Naruto himself mere days after he'd birthed Akemi. What made others hesitant to mess with him was the fact that he'd had more than enough power to destroy the snake sannin completely was the fact that he'd still been flexibly agile when he'd still been healing from giving birth. In their minds, it was hard to imagine what the man could do when he wasn't injured if he could destroy one of the most powerful shinobi that Konoha had ever produced while having to worry about tearing open the stitches from his C-section.

Clearing his throat, Naruto asks, "Can Mommy please give the monster the kiss of doom before I leave?"

The toddlers cheer happily and nod. They move out of Naruto's way as he walks into the room and kneels as Itachi sits up. The amusement shining in the depths of his husband's dark eyes only makes the blonde's smile grow. "I'll be home right after the meeting and settling of the Kages is over 'Tachi. You let me know if they've been bad because I promised Akemi we'd go get some ice cream if she behaved while I'm gone."

Itachi smirks. "Blackmail and bribes, I do so love how we reign in the little ones we spawned from love." Tugging his blonde down by his collar, Itachi kisses him deeply before letting go of him. "Be careful love. I'm very fond of having you in one piece you know."

Akemi pouts. "Mon-'ter no deads mommy! Kiss of doom!"

Naruto raises a brow and grins at his husband. "I will be careful to keep myself just the way you like me. Try bugging Sasuke and TenTen, they have enough brats now to keep these two amused for a while. I love you."

Itachi smiles. "I love you too."

Naruto kisses Itachi again and murmurs amusedly, "The kiss of doom has been administered midder monster, you shall die for five minutes! Buahahaha!"

Itachi chuckles before 'dying', and the munchkins cheer before tackling their mommy to the floor and hugging him. Giving each little angel a kiss on the cheek, he lays them beside the 'dead' monster as they follow him into 'death' with exaggerated cries of anguish. It was a sure sign that his children had been spending far too much time with Rock Lee. Shaking his head at them, he blows a kiss to Itachi as the mans eyes peek open for a cautious moment. The kiss is caught and returned before he closes his eyes again and Naruto leaves the house. Greeting familiar faces, and welcoming visiting shinobi with a bright, cheerful, and warm smile, Naruto reflects on the changes the past five years have brought to the village hidden in the leaves.

Sasuke had a whirlwind romance with the fun-loving but no-nonsense TenTen. They'd beaten Naruto and Itachi by having a kid a year. Yep, that's right, the Uchiha clan was now six extra members strong counting the mother of the adorable little Uchiha spawn. In total, there were seven members. Itachi no longer counted as he'd taken the surname Namikaze the day he'd married Naruto. Sakura was back on shift at the hospital, and still training under Tsunade. She and Rock Lee had been married three years ago and had a cute little two year old girl who would have been a handful if not for Lee and his ever beloved Gai-sensei. With those two around that little whirlwind of two little legs didn't have a chance to climb the walls. Iruka and Kakashi were happy as significant others. Neither of them truly wanted a ceremony and had declared themselves married based on the years they'd been living together as a couple. Naruto personally thought it hilarious that Itachi refused to go to Iruka and Kakashi's house without him as protection. The men had done a number on his poor 'Tachi kitten when they'd given their threats on what they'd do to him if he so much as thought of hurting Naruto. According to Itachi, all Naruto needed to know is that the threats they'd made would have made Orochimaru run as far away from Konoha as quickly as possible without looking back. Naruto agreed that he really didn't need to know what they'd said. He chose to be happy that they loved him enough to do such a thing.

He was a happy little Hokage who was fair and made decisions based on what he felt was right for the village and the people in it. He was happy, truly happy for once in his troubled life, and he had the family he'd always dreamed of. It was far from a good ending to the story of his life; no, it was a wonderful beginning to the book he'd yet to write. His legacy, like that of his father before him, would be in the children he left behind and the lives he'd touched while he still had years left to live. He'd learned something and had taught it to the genin squad he'd decided to teach; Take nothing in this life for granted. You never know when you go to sleep if you'll open your eyes to a new day, or never open your eyes again.

_**/And cut! the end! Omake!/**_

**A/N:** My goal was 10,000 words and I made it with 10,340 words not counting the author's note and everything else not story related... well, the page breaks were counted too, but I don't think they make too much of a dent in the number of words. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the story that snuck up on me.


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